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How to configure Mtools for non-standard disk formats...

There are three approaches to the problem of trying to read and write
MSDOS formatted diskettes in a Unix box doesn't have a floppy drive
that meets the physical drive requirements.  For example, if your
Unix box only has a 80 track floppy, you can:

	1) Get a device driver to "double step" the 80 track drive
	to read and write to 40 track diskettes.

		Pros: No new hardware costs.
		Cons: Device drivers are a bitch to write (or
	  	      	expensive to buy).
		      Success rates are low when using 80 track
			drives to write 40 tracks.

	2) Get a conventional device driver and purchase a 40 track
	drive.  You'll still need the device driver unless your 
	Unix vendor was thoughtful enough to leave you some "extras".

		Pros: High success rates (40 track to 40 track)
		Cons: The "foriegn" drive may cause trouble with
			maintenance contracts

	3) Purchase a 80 track drive for your PC.  This exploits the
	fact that MSDOS already has a configurable device driver
	feature.

		Pros: You don't alter your Unix box in any way.
		Cons: You'll have to process all MSDOS diskettes
			thru the one PC before using Mtools.

               +--------+          +-----------+
          +--> | Unix   |          |  IBM PC   |
          |    | box    |          |  clone    |
        mtools +--------+          +-----+-----+
          |    | 80 trk |          | 80  | 40  |        MSDOS
          +--> | track  | <------> | trk | trk | <----> world
               +--------+          +-----+-----+
                                    ^         ^
                                    |  MSDOS  |
                                    +- COPY --+

How to customize Mtools...

The program can be easily customized to accept non-standard disk
formats.  For example, a popular disk format for Unix machines seems to
be 80 track, double sided, 8 sector.  This doesn't conform to any of the
IBM standard formats, but MSDOS 3.2 (or greater) can be made to format
virtually anything using DRIVPARM (or DRIVER.SYS) in the CONFIG.SYS
file.  Let's take a hypothetical case of a brand X Unix machine with a
80 track, double sided, 8 sector disk drive.  You could purchase an
external 80 track drive for your IBM compatible computer and format the
new drive D: under MSDOS with the following in your CONFIG.SYS file

	DRIVPARM=/D:2 /T:80 /S:8 /H:2 /F:2
		or
	DEVICE=DRIVER.SYS /D:2 /T:80 /S:8 /H:2 /F:2


Emmet P. Gray				US Army, HQ III Corps & Fort Hood
...!unnet!uiucuxc!fthood!egray		Attn: AFZF-DE-ENV
					Directorate of Engineering & Housing
					Environmental Management Office
					Fort Hood, TX 76544-5057
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